From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 5/13/2006 1:01 AM
Photo: AFP Photo: AFP Moldova’s Restive Province Urges Putin to Send More Russian Peacekeepers
12.05.2006
MosNews
The Anti-Blockade Coordinating Council of Non-governmental Organizations, set up in the wake of what the organizations are calling an economic blockade against Transdniestr, said it was concerned about steps being taken by the parties to the peace process, and feared they might spark a new conflict in the region, the news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
“The public is particularly concerned about the Moldovan authorities’ tendency to ignore the opinions of Transdniestr, a party to the peace talks, and to force it to make unilateral concessions, which has been supported by Ukraine, acting as a guarantor [of the peace process],” the organizations said in their appeal.
The organizations said Moldova’s political and economic moves had inflicted huge damage to the self-proclaimed republic.
In late April, Transdniestr said it had suffered losses of $112 million since Ukraine introduced new customs regulations in March, requiring that all Transdniestrian goods bound for Ukraine have an official Moldovan stamp.
Ukraine and Moldova, which seek integration into Europe, said they had resorted to the move to curb smuggling on the Transdniestrian border. Russia has sent humanitarian aid and transferred the first tranche of $10.23 million to the self-proclaimed republic.
Under the 1998 agreements, Moldova and Transdniestr each have 500 troops in the region. Russia has voluntarily cut its contingent to 350 servicemen. In 1992, when Russia intervened in the armed conflict at the Moldovan leader’s request and brokered a ceasefire agreement, it had 2,400 troops in the region.
The conflict broke out when Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union, and the Transdniestr region, with a majority Russian-speaking population, followed suit, declaring its independence and separation from Moldova. Russia sent in troops, ending the bloodshed that ensued, but no political solution has yet been found.
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